T101.2 - Telecom Services
Rumor has it Indigenous cultures used mirrors communicate via visual Morse code in a network that stretched thousands of miles. And then came the Pony Express, the telegraph, the telephone and the fax machine.
Once the telephone and fax machine became a staple in offices, most serious small business people had a phone line for voice and a separate phone line for fax. With the advent of cell phones and the internet, everything has changed. The sections below are broad and short in an attempt to convey basic information as I've come to see it
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Once the telephone and fax machine became a staple in offices, most serious small business people had a phone line for voice and a separate phone line for fax. With the advent of cell phones and the internet, everything has changed. The sections below are broad and short in an attempt to convey basic information as I've come to see it
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- Telephone -- Land Lines -- For Voice
- Telephone -- Land Lines -- For Fax
- Telephone -- Cellular Service -- For Voice
- Internet Service
- Cable TV Service
- Comcast Commercial Services
- Bundling Services
1) Telephone Land Line -- For Voice
If you don't really "need" a land telephone line for voice, go without it. Reasons to need a land telephone line might include:
I recently reviewed phone options with two different health care providers (Sole Proprietors). After a little dialogue both realized if they wanted a dedicated line for their business, separate from their personal phone, a second mobile phone with a separate phone number was the way to go. They also realized if the wanted to have office support, they could always leave the business phone at work and there were docking system to tie that phone into hand held sets.
=== If you want/need a land line for voice avoid VOIP ===
Voice over IP (VOIP) is a system which allows you to make phone calls using the internet bandwidth. In general, I find VOIP to be annoying as a listener on either end enoug to discourage it's use, even if it works well 90% of the time. A phone expense is not huge. Don't add to your expenses but try to save a little with quality sacrifice. I realize others may have had a different experience or opinion on this.
- Crappy cell coverage in your office
- A monitored alarm system that you prefer to have hard wired to dispatch for cost or performance reasons
- An office assistant who will be using your office phone as much or more than you
I recently reviewed phone options with two different health care providers (Sole Proprietors). After a little dialogue both realized if they wanted a dedicated line for their business, separate from their personal phone, a second mobile phone with a separate phone number was the way to go. They also realized if the wanted to have office support, they could always leave the business phone at work and there were docking system to tie that phone into hand held sets.
=== If you want/need a land line for voice avoid VOIP ===
Voice over IP (VOIP) is a system which allows you to make phone calls using the internet bandwidth. In general, I find VOIP to be annoying as a listener on either end enoug to discourage it's use, even if it works well 90% of the time. A phone expense is not huge. Don't add to your expenses but try to save a little with quality sacrifice. I realize others may have had a different experience or opinion on this.
2) Telephone Land Lines -- For Fax
With a good, high speed scanner (like a Fujitsu Scansnap) you really have no need for a physical fax machine nor a fax telephone line. Zero. Zip. Nada.
For inbound faxes, a fax server is a dream. You can get your faxes instantly no matter where you are in the world. It really rocks. There are ZERO draw backs for inbound faxes, and only benefits.
For outbound faxes it's a different story. In the olden days, anyone could send a fax. Put it in the machine, dial the number and hit send. With this you have to put it in an auto-feeder and hit scan (similar), but then you have to be able to save the document to your file system and retrieve it from your file system. The benefit of sending with a fax server is a built in log of sent faxes, but when 1) the scanner is acting up or 2) the computer is acting up or 3) email is acting up or 4) your internet connection is acting up or 5) the email fax service is acting up there can be problems. See how many moving pieces just got introduced to the send side of this??
I will be the first to admit, there have been times when I was forced to send a fax, that I wished I just had a stupid land phone line, but those were few and far between. The benefits out weigh the costs.
If you really think you need a physical fax machine, my opinion is you need a dedicated phone line and a dedicated fax machine (not a multi-function printer) More details here...
We were using Fax87.com until September 2017 at which point they got consumed by eFax. it looks like they may have been forced out of business or forced to sell due to a lawsuit ( https://insight.rpxcorp.com/litigation_documents/11946064 ). Efax is notoriously pricey and the service by them and the parent companies is typically challenging. Looking for new service providers now:
- Inbound Faxes -- With a cloud based fax service, inbound faxes come to you via email with the fax attached in pdf form to the email. It is a communication dream.
- Outbound Faxes -- Sending faxes does not feel natural. I still miss the sounds and the confidence of an outbound connection. You scan your document. Save it in a good spot on your computer. Open your email. Create a new message. Attach the scanned document. Address email to [email protected] (where xxxyyyzzzz represents the fax number of your recipient and the email is being sent from an account that has fax sending permissions).
For inbound faxes, a fax server is a dream. You can get your faxes instantly no matter where you are in the world. It really rocks. There are ZERO draw backs for inbound faxes, and only benefits.
For outbound faxes it's a different story. In the olden days, anyone could send a fax. Put it in the machine, dial the number and hit send. With this you have to put it in an auto-feeder and hit scan (similar), but then you have to be able to save the document to your file system and retrieve it from your file system. The benefit of sending with a fax server is a built in log of sent faxes, but when 1) the scanner is acting up or 2) the computer is acting up or 3) email is acting up or 4) your internet connection is acting up or 5) the email fax service is acting up there can be problems. See how many moving pieces just got introduced to the send side of this??
I will be the first to admit, there have been times when I was forced to send a fax, that I wished I just had a stupid land phone line, but those were few and far between. The benefits out weigh the costs.
If you really think you need a physical fax machine, my opinion is you need a dedicated phone line and a dedicated fax machine (not a multi-function printer) More details here...
We were using Fax87.com until September 2017 at which point they got consumed by eFax. it looks like they may have been forced out of business or forced to sell due to a lawsuit ( https://insight.rpxcorp.com/litigation_documents/11946064 ). Efax is notoriously pricey and the service by them and the parent companies is typically challenging. Looking for new service providers now:
- https://www.quora.com/What-is-a-good-alternative-to-eFax
- www.fax.plus may be an option
3) Cellular Service -- Voice
I got rid of my land lines for home and office around 2005. My cell phone is my business phone and my personal phone. Keeping phone systems simple is critical. I realize there are virtual phone numbers and virtual services like Google Voice. I have experimented with a few. Having a single phone and a single phone number has simplified my life, as has the push to do as much relevant communication as possible via email.
I currently use an Iphone with Verizon Service. I have experience and opinions about phones and service providers. More details here...
I currently use an Iphone with Verizon Service. I have experience and opinions about phones and service providers. More details here...
4) Internet Service
You only need about 1.5mb to stream videos one at a time. With 3-5mb, you can stream for a house of 3 or so. The concept that says Comcast is offering 50 and 100mb streaming is great, but few have that need right now (I don't know anything about gaming demands).
=== Land Based Service ===
Get land based service if at all possible.
=== Wireless Service - Not Cellular Phone Related ===
I've had four wireless internet service providers because of geographic issues. Three were a wi-fi type setup and one was satellite.
The wi-fi setups were in Baltimore and California. One was with Clear Wireless, a national company that specialized in wireless service (and was bought out and shut down in 2015) and two were with local companies that specialized in the wireless services. Wireless services are "OK". If it is your only option, it will work fine, but there are more issues with them than land based services. Ironically, the service I got from Clear Wireless was more support free than that with the local companies, and it was a perfect solution for me as it was at my Baltimore shop which was intermittently operational and I could order service by the month.
The satellite service I have experience with was in 2012 in California. The speeds were not good for any major work, clouds were an issue, and it was expensive.
=== Wireless Service -- Cellular Phone Related ===
With the shuttering of Clear Wireless, I had to invest in a hot spot for my Verizon Phone/Account. The service is good. The ability to track data use is good. It is good for moderate to heavy email use. It can get pricy quick for any video streaming or social media.
They do sell house mounted antennas to use their service as a primary land based service. It is expensive compared to other non-cellular related wireless service (or at least it was as of 2015).
=== Land Based Service ===
Get land based service if at all possible.
=== Wireless Service - Not Cellular Phone Related ===
I've had four wireless internet service providers because of geographic issues. Three were a wi-fi type setup and one was satellite.
The wi-fi setups were in Baltimore and California. One was with Clear Wireless, a national company that specialized in wireless service (and was bought out and shut down in 2015) and two were with local companies that specialized in the wireless services. Wireless services are "OK". If it is your only option, it will work fine, but there are more issues with them than land based services. Ironically, the service I got from Clear Wireless was more support free than that with the local companies, and it was a perfect solution for me as it was at my Baltimore shop which was intermittently operational and I could order service by the month.
The satellite service I have experience with was in 2012 in California. The speeds were not good for any major work, clouds were an issue, and it was expensive.
=== Wireless Service -- Cellular Phone Related ===
With the shuttering of Clear Wireless, I had to invest in a hot spot for my Verizon Phone/Account. The service is good. The ability to track data use is good. It is good for moderate to heavy email use. It can get pricy quick for any video streaming or social media.
They do sell house mounted antennas to use their service as a primary land based service. It is expensive compared to other non-cellular related wireless service (or at least it was as of 2015).
5) Cable TV Service
I no longer have Cable TV service of any kind in my primary residence. I've had Comcast and DirecTV. In 2016 I discontinued DirecTV in a switch back to Comcast. There were intermittent dish and receiver card issues that made DirecTV annoying from time to time.
6) Comcast Commercial Services
Many people do not realize that Comcast offers commercial grade service for home offices. When I had it it was limited to internet and phone -- you could not bundle it with a commercial TV service however. I got this for my home office in Baltimore at a time when I wanted to make sure i got top level support if there were internet issues. it was a slight premium over residential service but it was worth the premium to me at the time.
7) Telecom Bundles
In general, I am not a fan of bundling unless I'm getting what I would choose separately together. I have paid small premiums over time to get what I've wanted from vendors who specialize in what it is they sell or provide.